JPH0772031B2 - Recording material storage device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording material storage device for storing a thin recording medium such as a copy material of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

2. Description of the Related Art Many printers and the like of copiers have a recording material storage device that stores recording materials such as recording paper and can be detachably attached. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a general laser printer. Reference numeral 1 is a drum-shaped photosensitive member having a photosensitive layer on its surface, 2 is a charging unit for charging the photosensitive member 1, and 3 is the surface of the photosensitive member 1. An optical unit for scanning an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 1 to form an electrostatic latent image, 4 a developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 1 with toner 5, 6 a recording material such as paper, and 7 a recording material 6 A transport roller for transporting, a transfer device 8 for transferring the image on the photosensitive member 1 onto the recording material 6, a fixing device 9 for fixing the image transferred on the recording material 6, 10 a discharging roller, and 11 discharging. A stacker for storing the recording paper 6, a cleaning member 12 for cleaning the residual toner 5 on the photosensitive member 1 after transfer, 13
Is a static eliminator for making the charge on the photosensitive member 1 uniform, and printing is performed on the recording material 6 by rotation of the photosensitive member 1 in the direction of arrow A in the above-described configuration. Here, 14 is a cassette box in which the recording material 6 is loaded and stored, 15 is a loading plate on which the recording material 6 is placed, 16 is a spring, and the recording material 6 is always loaded in the cassette box 14 via the loading plate 15. Is biased upward. Reference numeral 17 is a separating member, and 17a is a separating claw formed on a part of the separating member, which is engaged with a corner portion of the leading end of the recording material 6. Then, by rotating the half-moon shaped feeding roller 18, the surface of the feeding roller and the uppermost paper in the cassette box 14 are fed, and only the uppermost recording material 6 in the cassette box 14 is separated by the separating claw. Will be delivered. However, the arrow A of the photosensitive member 1 described above
Since the feeding roller 18 is rotationally controlled in synchronization with the rotation of the direction, the recording material 6 is sequentially fed from the cassette box 14, and the printing operation is executed one by one.

By the way, in order to keep the contact state of the recording material 6 stacked on the stacking plate 15 with the feeding roller 18 at the time of feeding, the distance between the uppermost recording material 6 and the feeding roller must be kept constant. I have to. For this reason, the uppermost recording material 6 is locked so as not to rise above a specific position. It is necessary to regulate the upward swing of the separating member 17.

Further, when the recording material 6 is stored, if the separating member 17 swings too much downward, the workability of storing the recording material 6 deteriorates.
It is necessary to regulate the downward swing of the separating member 17 at a predetermined position. Therefore, the following conventional recording material storage device has been proposed. 6 and 7 are perspective views showing the vicinity of the separating member of the conventional recording material storage device. here
Reference numeral 19 is a supporting member for the separating member 17, 20 is a swing fulcrum pin of the separating member 17, and 21 is a screw for fixing the supporting member 19 to the cassette box 14. Reference numeral 17b denotes an opening provided near the tip of the separating member 17, and 19a denotes a cut-and-raised portion provided at the tip of the supporting member 19. The support member 19 allows the separating member 14 to swing around a swing pin 20, and is attached to the bottom surface of the cassette box 14 by a screw 21. The cut-and-raised portion 19a is the support member 1
The tip of 9 is cut and raised, and the tip part is the separation member 1
7 is inserted into the opening 17b. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the recording material 6 is not stored. The separating member 17 is the loading plate 15
Is urged upward by the spring 16 being urged upward. On the other hand, the opening 17b comes into contact with the lower end side of the cut-and-raised portion 19a, whereby the upward swing of the separating member 17 is restricted, and the separating member 17 stops at the position shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows a loading plate for the purpose of storing recording materials.
It shows the state where 15 is pushed down. When the stacking plate 15 moves downward to the position shown in FIG. 5, the separating member 17 swings downward due to its own weight, but the opening 17b comes into contact with the upper edge of the cut-and-raised portion 19a to separate the separating member. The downward swing of 17 is restricted.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the recording material storage device having the above-described configuration, the separating member is supported by the supporting member, and the cut-and-raised portion provided in the supporting member is inserted into the opening provided in the separating member. By doing so, since the swing range of the separating member is restricted, it is impossible to integrally form the supporting member with the cassette box side plate. For this reason, the support member itself and parts for mounting the support parts are required, and the number of parts and the number of assembly steps are increased.

Further, since the number of parts is large, the weight of the apparatus is large as a whole, and it is necessary to take measures to strengthen the strength corresponding to this, and the apparatus is complicated as a whole.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, in the recording material storage device of the present invention, a separating claw is formed at one end of an L-shaped separating member and the other end is at the bottom of the cassette box. The separating member is rotatably supported on the side surface of the cassette box while being inserted into the provided long hole.

Action The action by the above-mentioned technical means is as follows.

The separating member is rotatably supported by being axially supported on the side surface of the cassette box, and the rotation range of the separating member is regulated by inserting the other end of the separating member into a long hole provided on the bottom surface of the cassette box. .

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a recording material storage device in an embodiment of the present invention. Here, 22 is a support portion of the separation member 23, and the separation member 23 is rotatably supported by a pin 24. Reference numeral 25 denotes a recording material side regulating protrusion that regulates the lateral position of the recording material 6, and the supporting portion 22 and the recording material side regulating protrusion 25
Both are integrally formed with the side plate of the cassette box 26. Reference numeral 27 denotes an insertion opening of the stacking plate 28, which is arranged on the bottom plate of the cassette box 26, and a projection provided at the rear end of the stacking plate 28 is inserted therein to support the stacking plate 28 swingably.

1 to 3 are partial enlarged cross-sectional views of a recording material storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Here, 29 is a long hole arranged on the bottom surface of the cassette box 26, and the other end 30 of the separating member 23 is inserted. Reference numeral 31 is a separation claw provided at one end of the separation member 23. Reference numeral 32 denotes a spring, which is inserted between the bottom plate of the cassette box 26 and the stacking plate 28 to urge the stacking plate 28 upward.

The operation of the feeding apparatus of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 1 shows the recording material accommodating apparatus in a state where the recording material 6 is not mounted, and the separating member 23 is a supporting portion of the separating member.
22 is swingably supported around the pin 20, and the loading plate
It is biased upward by a spring 32 via 28.
On the other hand, the other end 30 of the separating member 23 is inserted into the long hole 29 provided in the bottom plate of the cassette box 26, and the other end 30 of the separating member 23 contacts the edge surface of the long hole 29 on the feeding direction side. As a result, upward swing of the separating member 23 is restricted.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the recording material 6 is being attached to the feeding device. The recording material 6 is stored in the cassette box 26 by the user.
When the recording material 6 is pressed to mount the sheet, the stacking plate 28 descends, and the separating member 23 descends by its own weight as the stacking plate 28 descends. However, the other end 30 of the separating member 23 has a long hole.
By abutting on the edge surface of the side opposite to the feeding direction of 29, the downward swing of the separating member 23 is restricted. Therefore, a space for accommodating the recording material 6 is provided between the separation claw 31 of the separation member 23 and the stacking plate 28.

FIG. 3 shows the recording material storage device in the state where the recording material 6 is stored. The loading plate 28 is lifted up by the urging force of the spring 32, and the separation claw 31 is engaged with the corner of the recording material 6. Therefore, the separating claw 31 is also urged upward. However, the other end 30 of the separating member 23 comes into contact with the edge surface of the long hole 29 on the side opposite to the feeding side, and further upward movement is restricted.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention regulates the vertical swing range of the separation member by inserting one end of the L-shaped separation member into the elongated hole on the bottom surface of the cassette box, so that it is necessary to use a support member or the like for the separation member. Instead, the separating member can be directly attached to the side surface of the cassette box. Therefore, since the configuration of the entire device can be simplified, the device can be made compact and lightweight. Further, the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of parts and the number of assembling steps. Further, since the substantially corner portion of the L-shaped separating member is used as the fulcrum and one end is inserted into the long hole of the bottom surface of the cassette box, the separating member is prevented from moving in a direction perpendicular to the swing plane of the separating member. It is possible,
The recording material can be reliably separated.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 are partially enlarged cross-sectional views of a recording material accommodating device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the same, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a general electrophotographic device. 6 and 7 are perspective views of the vicinity of the separating member of the conventional recording material storage device. 22 …… Supporting part, 23 …… Separating member 24 …… Pin, 25 …… Recording material side regulating part 26 …… Cassette box, 27 …… Insertion opening 28 …… Loading plate, 29 …… Elongated hole 30 …… The other end, 31 …… Separating claw 32 …… Spring

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A box for accommodating a sheet-shaped recording material is provided with an opening in the bottom surface thereof, and a separating claw for engaging a corner of the recording material is provided at one end of a substantially L-shaped separating member for separating the recording material. A recording material storage device, wherein the separating member is rotatably supported on the side surface of the box and the other end of the separating member is inserted into a hole provided on the bottom surface of the box.